Automated or at least partially automated picking devices are often used in pharmacies for storing medicine packages in a space-saving manner. In the known picking devices that are suitable for pharmacies, the medicine packages are stored chaotically or according to type. In chaotic storage, the medicine packages are not always stored in the same storage locations in the device, but rather in the storage locations where there happens to be sufficient space. This makes it possible to avoid having an excessive amount of empty volume and to substantially increase the number of medicine packages stored per square meter of base surface area.
Medicine packages that are dispensed at a very high frequency (so-called “fast movers”) are often stored in storage chutes according to type. Each storage chute has, at the lower end thereof, a blocking device, which can be activated by a control device and by means of which one or more medicine packages can be retrieved from the storage chute. The number of different medicines that can be stored by means of a picking device having type-specific storage chutes corresponds at most to the number of type-specific storage chutes.
The exact design of a picking device depends on the particular requirements of the site, i.e., there are picking devices having exclusively chaotic storage, picking devices having exclusively type-specific storage in storage chutes, and picking devices in which both types of storage are combined.
Independently of the manner in which the medicine packages are stored, soiling of the picking device with medicine residue, packaging material residue, or dust can be problematic, since it is extremely time-consuming to clean the storage locations for chaotic storage and/or type-specific storage. In order to clean, e.g., storage chutes used to store medicine packages according to type, an entire shelf base including a plurality of storage chutes is typically removed from the picking device and is replaced with a clean shelf base, or the entire shelf base is cleaned in the state thereof installed in the picking device. With respect to both methods, it is absolutely necessary that all medicine packages be removed from the storage chutes before cleaning. Independently of which of the known methods is used to clean the storage chutes, the downtime of the storage chutes or, possibly, the entire picking device, is considerable.